Pages

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Book Review: Glimpses of Grace

It's...

not...

just...

me.

Again and again, God used Glimpses of Grace
to remind me that my experience is simply ordinary; and that's a good
thing! My struggles, trials, and challenges aren't all that unique; they
are, in fact, common to human existence. Some days ARE hard. Some
seasons ARE lonely. Sometimes, we hide in the closet and let the tears
flow freely. It's all normal in a broken world. It's okay. God has given us grace in Christ and continues to supply all that we need.

Gloria Furman and I have been reading a lot of the same authors. The influence of John Piper, Milton Vincent, Wendy Alsup, D.A. Carson, John Calvin, Jeremiah Burroughs and many others was evident throughout Glimpses of Grace. Gloria isn't uncovering new truths in her book but simply restating the one, essential truth about what God has done for us in Christ again and again and again. She faithfully applies this Biblical truth to home life with a conversational tone and sense of humor that helps her reader treasure God, savor the beauty of Jesus, and keep her eyes on the Gospel by which we can behold the glory of God (pg. 67). She reminds her reader of the importance of taking "...pains 'to study Christ.' We study Christ because we've been saved for the purpose of being transformed into his image, and in our beholding, the work of transformation occurs" (pg. 68).

Reminiscent of John Piper's book, Future Grace, Gloria Furman reminds us to look back and to look forward (pg. 85) and persevere:

"Faith looks backward to the cross and believes that Jesus has purchased every spiritual blessing for us with his blood (Eph. 1:3). Faith also looks forward to the reward of all that God has for us in Christ. This is the kind of faith that changes the way you live today and makes you into a homemaker whose goal and delight is in God and in being conformed to his image" (pg. 165).

I'm not sure if it was my "mommy brain" reading the book, Gloria's "mommy brain" writing the book, or some combination of the two, but there were several times that I had difficulty following Gloria's train of thought. This doesn't necessarily diminish the content of Glimpses of Grace; it just made me feel a little scatterbrained at times as I tried to wrap my mind around what the author was trying to communicate. It sort of reminded me of walking in on the middle of something; I wasn't always sure where it started or how I got quite where I was, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

Gloria sees and communicates the Gospel clearly in many little life moments and shares these anecdotes with her readers. These chapters are encouraging to those who are seeking to "preach" the Gospel truth to themselves again. This is not a practical "how to" book, but an example of how one mom seeks to apply Gospel truth on a daily basis in her home. I think Glimpses of Gracewill prove an edifying read to all who desire to savor the beauty of Christ afresh (pg. 58).

*Many thanks to Crossway for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion!